Former Energoatom official Sheiko placed under 2 months of 24/7 house arrest – media

The Solomiansky District Court in Kyiv on Thursday ordered a pretrial restriction for former official of the state enterprise National Nuclear Energy Generating Company Energoatom and former first deputy energy minister Yuriy Sheiko in the form of 24/7 house arrest for two months and required him to wear an electronic bracelet, Suspilne reported.

Sheiko was detained in Kyiv on December 2 on suspicion of embezzling property through abuse of office; prosecutors are preparing a formal notice of suspicion. The Office of the Prosecutor General said the case contains evidence linking the suspect to "connections with Russian capital in strategically important sectors."

According to a Telegram post by the prosecutor general's office on Tuesday, he is suspected of manipulating a contract for mandatory nuclear damage insurance, which allegedly led to an overpricing of UAH 18.6 million.

Prosecutors say the alleged scheme concerns manipulations during the signing of a civil liability insurance contract for nuclear damage, a document that directly affects the country's nuclear security. The investigation established that on August 1, 2022, the official signed an insurance contract with PJSC PRO100-Insurance for UAH 105.642 million.

On August 12, 2022, just 12 days later, he signed an addendum raising the contract amount to UAH 130.925 million without any economic justification, citing an alleged decision by a German reinsurer.

Sheiko's lawyer says the increase in the hryvnia-denominated sum resulted from a change in the National Bank's exchange rate relative to the Special Drawing Rights (SDR) at the time the addendum was signed. The defense notes that recalculated in SDRs there was actually a saving of UAH 40,000. The defense denies the suspicion is unfounded and rejects the alleged risks, also stressing that Sheiko as vice-president for operations could not have ordered accounting to carry out such actions.

Sheiko himself denies involvement in any scheme, saying he only signed documents at the final stage after they had been approved by all relevant departments (legal, finance, contracts).

"I was never an organizer, I did not participate in any schemes or fraudulent operations, I never gave any instructions to do any manipulations. That is the first point. Second, as the lawyer already said, I never gave any instructions," Sheiko stated.

On November 10, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) revealed details of a large-scale corruption scheme in the energy sector dubbed "Midas." NABU alleges that legalization of funds illicitly acquired through the scheme was handled by a specific office of the criminal organization located in central Kyiv.

Among those NABU has identified as participants in the energy corruption scheme are: a member of the National Commission for State Regulation of Energy and Utilities (NEURC) Serhiy Pushkar; businessman Tymur Mindich; former executive director for physical protection and security at JSC Energoatom Dmytro Basov; and former energy ministry adviser Ihor Myroniuk.

According to NABU, the office used as a large "laundry," where meticulous records were kept and a slush fund was maintained, is located in central Kyiv and is owned by relatives of former Ukrainian MP, now Russian senator, Andriy Derkach, who is accused by NABU and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) in a separate criminal case.

NABU detective Oleksandr Abakumov said investigators recorded interactions involving four Cabinet ministers during the probe into the energy corruption scheme. The ministers served in different periods. One of them is former energy minister and justice minister Herman Haluschenko, who appears in the case under the codename "Professor." Searches were also conducted at his premises. On November 12, he and then-head of the Energy Ministry Svitlana Hrynchuk resigned.

Former Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Chernyshov, suspected of illicit enrichment, was ordered by the High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) to be held in custody with an alternative bail set at UAH 51 million. On November 19, UAH 51.6 million bail was posted and he is to be released from pretrial detention.

On December 1, businessman Tymur Mindich was, in absentia, remanded in custody by the High Anti-Corruption Court.